Packaging unit for articles with opening feature

ABSTRACT

A packaging unit having a front wall and a back wall sealed together at a peripheral joint. The front and back walls are formed of semi-rigid material. The front wall and back wall are spaced apart from one another to define an article-receiving region between them. A line of weakness is formed in the back wall. The line of weakness defines an opening flap to be at least partially separated from the remainder of the back wall. A raised opening tab is positioned on the opening flap along the line of weakness and extends away from the opening flap. The line of weakness is rupturable by a user by applying a manual force to the opening tab to at least partially separate the opening flap from the remainder of the back wall along the line of weakness in order to access the article-receiving region.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a semi-rigid packaging unit forarticles such as razors, articles of personal use and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional packaging units for articles are made from two wallssecured to one another. The walls are relatively stiff with a heat sealweld along the peripheral edges or indeed surrounding the entireperiphery. Examples of these packaging units are shown in U.S. Pat. No.5,429,241 issued to Althaus and U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,066 issued toGrange.

Blister packs are known to have a plastic blister front and a cardboardrear wall, the plastic front being glued to the cardboard, which isopened when the user peels the two halves away from one another or pullsback a perforated flap or panel on the cardboard back wall. Examples ofthese packs are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,691 issued to Iten; U.S.Pat. No. 3,972,417 issued to Iten et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,194 issuedto Iten; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,245 issued to Mullen.

It is recognized that various disadvantages of these known packs includethey are frequently difficult to open, usually requiring scissors orconsiderable force, or do not allow easy access to the article within,which is inconvenient for the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a packaging unit. The packaging unitcomprises a front wall and a back wall sealed together at a peripheraljoint. The front wall and the back wall are formed of semi-rigidmaterial and are spaced apart from one another to define anarticle-receiving region between them. A line of weakness is formed inthe back wall. The line of weakness defines an opening flap to be atleast partially separated from the remainder of the back wall. A raisedopening tab is positioned on the opening flap along the line ofweakness. The raised opening tab extends away from the opening flap. Theline of weakness is rupturable by a user by applying a manual force tothe opening tab to at least partially separate the opening flap from theremainder of the back wall along the line of weakness in order to accessthe article-receiving region.

The front and back walls may be formed of plastic or cardboard.

The line of weakness comprises perforations.

The peripheral joint may comprises a heat-sealed seam, a radio frequencysealed seam a ultrasonic sealed seam or an adhesively sealed seam.

The packaging unit may further comprise a hinge in the back wall tofacilitate separation of the opening flap from the back wall.

The opening flap may be completely separable from said back wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing outand distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as formingthe present invention, it is believed that the invention will be betterunderstood from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a packaging unit of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front isometric view of the packaging unit of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the packaging unit of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the packaging unit of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a rear isometric view of the packaging unit of FIG. 1 with theopening flap partially separated from the back wall.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of another packaging unit of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, there is shown a packaging unit 10 forarticles. The packaging unit 10 is comprised of two spaced-apart walls,front wall 11 and back wall 12 that have been formed to define anarticle-receiving region 13 between them commonly referred to as ablister, pouch, pocket or cavity. The walls can be referred to as asheet, foil or panel. The article-receiving pouch shape can be formedinto one wall and the other be flat, but it is preferred that both frontwall 11 and back wall 12 define parts of the article-receiving pouch.The packaging unit 10 may have a plurality of shapes, includingrectangular, circular or oval; preferably, in general, having arectangular shape. The front wall 11 and back wall 12 are formed ofsemi-rigid material, which generally retains a shape, e.g. the blistershape, into which it is formed, and is relatively stiff. Preferably thefront wall 11 and back wall 12 are formed of plastic material,preferably transparent plastic, to permit viewing of the articlecontained therein prior to purchase. However, other non-transparentmaterials may be used.

The semi-rigid plastic material walls 11, 12 can be thermally formedfrom plastic materials, preferably polyester materials. Suitablematerials also include, without limitation, PVC, PET G (extra glycolpolyester), PET, PETGAG and PP. In the case of walls 11, 12 being madeof plastic, suitable forming techniques include vacuum forming and deepdrawing, whereby a sheet of material is drawn down with the assistanceof pressure over an aluminum tool corresponding in shape to thearticle-receiving region 13 to be formed, then cooled and set.Alternatively, although presently less preferred, one wall could be madeof plastic and another wall of cardboard or paperboard. The use of anall-plastic packaging unit has the advantage that it may be recyclablewithout having to separate dissimilar materials, is strong and providesa good opportunity to view the contained article. It is understood thatthe materials can be chosen with regard to the weight of the article tobe packed therein, the desired resistance to package crushing ordeformation, material cost, and environmental matters such as ease ofrecycling a package made of a homogenous material rather than dissimilarmaterials.

The packaging unit 10 is sealed along a peripheral joint 14. Thepackaging unit 10 is preferably sealed around all peripheral edges. Thesealed packaging unit 10 defines a semi-rigid assembly which has a gooddegree of stiffness to protect an article contained therein and resistsaccidental opening.

The peripheral joint 14 may be achieved by use of such convenienttechniques as adhesives, ultrasonic, heat-sealing, radio-frequency (RF)sealing (also referred to as “high frequency” HF sealing), or firmmechanical interlock. It is preferred that the joint be strong enoughsuch that it is not easily peeled apart (i.e., resists delamination),since it is not necessary for the consumer to separate the layers of thejoint itself. The type of joint chosen depends on the material of whichwalls 11, 12 are made, as is understood in the art. A heat seal or RFseal is understood in the art to form a firm, “welded” joint in theclasses of preferred plastics such as above mentioned, as is commonlyused in blister packs and well understood in the art. A suitable RF sealis about 2.5 mm wide in plan view. Adhesives of the isocyanate typewould also “weld” these kinds of plastics, although rubber basedadhesives are not preferred since they are less resistant to beingpeeled open. Also alternatively, if one wall were made of plastic andthe other of cardboard, a suitable adhesive can form the joint, as iswell understood in the art.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, along and inward of the peripheral joint 14 is aline of weakness or weakened region 15 formed in back wall 12.Preferably, the line of weakness 15 is approximately parallel andcoextensive with portions of the peripheral joint 14, and formed byperforations 16. The line of weakness 15 defines an opening flap 20. Araised opening tab 24 is positioned on the opening flap 20 along theline of weakness 15. The raised opening tab 24 extends away from theopening flap 20. By extending away from the opening flap 20, the raisedtab 24 provides a convenient location for a user to grasp when openingthe packaging unit 10. When the perforations 16 of the line of weakness15 are ruptured, which can be done upon application of a moderate manualforce of, more or less, about 2 pounds (in the range of about 1 kg), tothe opening tab 24 the opening flap 20 can be at least partiallyseparated from the remainder of the back wall 12 allowing for easyaccess to the article-receiving region 13. The opening flap 20 separatesfrom the remainder of back wall 12 by pivoting about hinge 26.

An advantage of the invention has been determined to exist in that usersintuitively understand to grasp opening tab 24 to open the packagingunit 10, thus eliminating the need for extensive opening instructions tobe printed on the package, which permits more of the finite surface areaof the package to be available for viewing the article and communicatingsubstantive information about vended article itself.

Perforations 16 can be any convenient weakening and/orstress-concentrating features such as made by mechanical die cutting orslitting. The perforations 16 can be formed to extend through back wall12 as might conveniently be done with die cutting or slitting. Dependingon the material, as understood in the art 100 percent cuts (slitsextending through 100% of the thickness) could be sufficient.Perforations 16 are formed to completely extend through back wall 12,such as by cutting fully through the material's thickness, as ispresently preferred. It is presently preferred to form the perforationsas 10 mm long running slits with 1 mm of un-slit portion (“land”)between the slits when using PVC, PET G, PET, PETGAG, or PP sheets ofabout 0.4 mm thickness, it being understood that the choice ofdimensions would be made by one of skill in the art in light of thethickness and stiffness of the wall material. The perforations 16 can beformed subsequent the formation of the plastic material back wall 12. Itis preferred that perforations 16 be done in the blank for back wall 12before the front and back walls 11, 12 are heat-welded together, sincethen the wall forming step can be done in one operation; otherwise, ifthe perforations 16 were formed after the walls are heat-welded, thatwould require an additional processing step.

The article within packaging unit 10 may be an article of personal use,such as a razor, a razor blade unit, a shaving unit, a shaving head, atoothbrush, a battery, an energy or other fuel cell for an electric orgas powered appliance, or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown another packaging unit 110 ofthe present invention. Packaging unit 110 is identical to packaging unit10 of FIGS. 1-5, with one distinction. The one distinction is that lineof weakness 115 allows opening flap 120 to be completely removed orseparated from the remainder of back wall 112.

The line of weakness 115 defines an opening flap 120. A raised openingtab 124 is positioned on the opening flap 120 along the line of weakness115. The raised opening tab 124 extends away from the opening flap 120.By extending away from the opening flap 120, the raised tab 124 providesa convenient location for a user to grasp when opening the packagingunit 110. When the perforations 116 of the line of weakness 115 areruptured, which can be done upon application of a moderate manual forceto the opening tab 124, the opening flap 120 can be completely separatedfrom the remainder of the back wall 112 allowing for easy access to thearticle-receiving region 113.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean“about 40 mm.”

All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, inrelevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of anydocument is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior artwith respect to the present invention. To the extent that any meaning ordefinition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning ordefinition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, themeaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shallgovern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is thereforeintended to cover in the appended claims all such changes andmodifications that are within the scope of this invention.

1. A packaging unit comprising: a front wall and a back wall sealedtogether at a peripheral joint, said front wall and said back beingformed of semi-rigid material and being spaced apart from one another todefine an article-receiving region between them; a line of weaknessformed in said back wall, said line of weakness defining an opening flapto be at least partially separated from the remainder of said back wall;a raised opening tab positioned on said opening flap along said line ofweakness, said raised opening tab extending away from said opening flap;said line of weakness is rupturable by a user by applying a manual forceto said opening tab to at least partially separate said opening flapfrom the remainder of said back wall along said line of weakness inorder to access said article-receiving region.
 2. The packaging unitaccording to claim 1 wherein said front and back walls are formed ofplastic.
 3. The packaging unit according to claim 1 wherein said frontand back walls are formed of cardboard.
 4. The packaging unit accordingto claim 1 wherein said line of weakness comprises perforations.
 5. Thepackaging unit according to claim 1 wherein said peripheral jointcomprises a heat-sealed seam.
 6. The packaging unit according to claim 1wherein said peripheral joint comprises a radio frequency sealed seam.7. The packaging unit according to claim 1 further comprising a hinge insaid back wall to facilitate separation of said opening flap from saidback wall.
 8. A packaging unit comprising: a front wall and a back wallsealed together at a peripheral joint, said front wall and said backbeing formed of semi-rigid material and being spaced apart from oneanother to define an article-receiving region between them; a line ofweakness formed in said back wall, said line of weakness defining anopening flap to be completely separated from the remainder of said backwall; a raised opening tab positioned on said opening flap along saidline of weakness, said raised opening tab extending away from saidopening flap; said line of weakness is rupturable by a user by applyinga manual force to said opening tab to separate said opening flap fromthe remainder of said back wall along said line of weakness in order toaccess said article-receiving region.
 9. The packaging unit according toclaim 8 wherein said front and back walls are formed of plastic.
 10. Thepackaging unit according to claim 8 wherein said front and back wallsare formed of cardboard.
 11. The packaging unit according to claim 8wherein said line of weakness comprises perforations.
 12. The packagingunit according to claim 8 wherein said peripheral joint comprises aheat-sealed seam.
 13. The packaging unit according to claim 8 whereinsaid peripheral joint comprises a radio frequency sealed seam.